Happy 4th Birthday, C!

(C with his cake. He requested a Baby Jesus cake for his birthday.)

Sweet C,

I can not believe that you are four! That is so old! Old enough to be in school... old enough to learn your  letters.... old enough to count to 50... even old enough to sleep through the night without calling for mommy!? (I know... It's hopeful thinking!) :)

C, you bring such joy to people around you. Your favorite thing to do is sing, and when you sing, you sing with every cell in your small body. We're trying to teach you to "sing loud without screaming." It's a work in progress :) But even though I end most days with a headache from your constant soundtrack, I love the sound of your sweet, 4-year-old voice praising God with every ounce of your being. I hear you belt out, "I know who goes before me... I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side" and "Bless the Lord, O my soul. O my soul. Worship His holy name," and I can't help but picture the huge smile that you bring to God's face.

This year, you have grown like crazy! You went straight from size 10 shoes to size 12s, and you skipped right over size 4T and headed straight into 5s. You have also grown in your desire for independence. For a mommy, this is both wonderful and hard. Sometimes that independence means things take 5x longer than if I did them for you, but you want so desperately to be a big kid and do things all by yourself.

This has also been a growing year as you have learned that you and A are separate people. As he headed off to school fulltime, you have struggled to figure out your identity without him by your side. But you are getting the hang of it slowly but surely. I know it's been really hard for you, but you are doing such a great job of learning to be "you" without your big brother telling you what that looks like.

For this coming year, I am so excited to see how you continue to grow. I pray that God helps harness your independence and use it for good. I also pray that your heart will continue to fill with joy and that you would share that joy with everyone around you.

We love you so much, sweet C. We can't imagine our family without you. Happy, happy birthday!

My Cup Overflows

Being a stay-at-home mom is the best job I have ever had. I love my job. Absolutely love it. BUT, having said that, there are some parts of the job that can be very trying. For me, the lack of adult interaction is hard. It took me more than 30 years to figure out that I am actually an extrovert. I love being around people and it energizes me to spend time with other women. So, spending large parts of my day with just a three-year-old can be draining.

As hard as it can be, there are also weeks like this past one. On three different days, I was able to connect (via phone) with three friends that I ADORE. Women who love Jesus passionately and whose voices bring such joy to my heart. It doesn't happen often as life's schedules and time-zone differences make it hard to connect, but when it does, I remember why God's Word tells us in the book of Hebrews, "Let's us not give up meeting together (even if it's only via phone) as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another."

Jesus, thank you for the kind of friends that bring so much joy to my life that my cup overflows with joy. Thank you for the perfect timing of these calls. Thank you for the wisdom that You share with me through these sweet women. I pray, Father, that we would not give up meeting together, even when it's hard to connect and it may take weeks of back and forth messages. Thank you for the encouragement that these friends provide to me. You did not create us to live this life alone, and I thank you for that. This life is too hard without the support and encouragement of others, like the cheering crowd that gives the marathoner a second wind when she's ready to quit.

Kid Words

It is always so sad for me that as the kids grow up, their sweet baby words disappear and are replaced by real, grown up words. I almost cried when A first said "motorcycle" instead of "mock-ee-mo." Just another of the many steps towards independence.

But every once in awhile, those kid words pop up again. Sweet little reminders that, though they are growing fast, they are still kids. A few of my favorites:

Both of my boys mispronounce Caterpillar. Their version is "Cali-pitter."

The boys have a little friend named Max. We don't see him too often, but whenever C talks about him, he calls him "Mask". I love it!

C came home from school singing a song about Responsibility. His version: "Responsi-billo-bee." Which made me laugh hysterically as I remembered when A learned that song two years ago. He came home singing "Reso-allo-bee." I tried to correct him and suggest that maybe he didn't hear his teacher correctly, but he reassured me in loud, slow syllables as though I don't understand English. "No mom... it's REE-SO-ALL-O-BEE. You weren't there, so you don't know." Ha!

Fall Changes

Maybe you heard the big sigh of relief as I sat down to write this blog post. It was the sound of relaxation after a good 6 weeks of non-stop action. Maybe you also heard a little of the joy that comes from a week with very little on the calendar. Ahhh... sweet bliss.

To say we've been busy is an understatement. Fall has been ushered in by the changing colors of the leaves, the change in clothing and some equally apparent changes to our family. 

• A has started full-day kindergarten. It was an adjustment to have him gone all day, but we are getting into a groove. It helps that he LOVES it and is meeting kids and experiencing academic success. The hardest adjustment was for C as he had to figure out what life looks like without his full-time, built-in friend. 
• This September, sweet C headed off to his first day of preschool. He barely uttered goodbye on the first day as dove straight into learning without looking back. He has loved his time at school and comes home everyday with a full report. 
• Our adoption paperwork is finally finished! After months and months of preparation, our documents are currently in Bulgaria being translated before they can go before the courts. Within the next few weeks, we should officially be on the waiting list. This is such a huge milestone, and we are so excited that we have finally made it to this stage.

We know some of you who read this blog may wonder why I don't post more about the adoption. The reason is that our agency has asked us to avoid publicly discussing too many of the details. As much as I like to believe everyone in this world has good motives, the reality is many people don't like adoption. A country can close it's doors to international adoption for very little reasons. One blog post that upsets one person with the right government connections could literally end adoption for an entire country's worth of kids. For that reason, I will be very vague about our adoption on this site, but  please know that I am PASSIONATELY willing to share every detail if you ask, so feel free to call and ask any questions you may  have. 

More Fun Family Time!

We arrived home from NC late on a Tuesday and left on Thursday to visit P's family. It sounded good on paper when we first discussed it. Then, as the time got closer, I was so worried that it would be too much  on the kids (and me!) to have that much travel and messed up schedule for so many days. But it ended up being so, so good. The kids were troopers and were so entertained in Cleveland that they didn't have too much time to throw fits :) The transition back was LONG, but our time up north was so worth it.

We only usually travel to Cleveland during the winter, when we spend time with family for the holidays and then head home. We don't often get up there in warmer weather when exploring the city is more fun. This trip, without the hindrance of naptimes to work around, we had so much fun seeing sights, being with family and making memories (to quote Aunt K!).

The highlights (remember this was all in just 2 1/2 days):

Natural History Museum with Uncle K

The museum had an outdoor area with live animals. The boys loved this area, and I think the highlight was watching the river otters.

First ever Omnimax movie.

Lunch in Little Italy

Can't travel anywhere with kids and not stop at a park.

Family picnic dinner down at a beach. Delicious food, lots of family, a playground and throwing rocks into the lake. So, so fun.

A trip to see Uncle P's farm. The fruit on that tree are Asian Pears, which the boys say were delicious.

A trip to a Botanical Gardens with an outdoor, kids garden. We loved the time we got to spend with cousin J on this trip!

An amusement park, which included the boys' first rollercoaster. (side note: As soon as we pulled in the parking lot, I realized we used to go to this park when I was a kid. It is right around the corner from my grandma's old house. P also went there as a kid when he visited his gramma. We could have been there at the same time several decades ago!)

A trip to Uncle K's fire station is always a highlight. The boys loved spraying the hose and putting the  ladder up.

And I didn't get any pics of our brunch at our favorite restaurant in Cleveland, Lucky's. If you are ever in the area, you MUST try it. Yum. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. We will have to make sure to make it there when we are back in Cleveland for Christmas. I may just start counting down now :)

Who doesn't love the beach?!

A week at the beach. Does life get better? Our now 4th annual trip to NC with my family was wonderful as always. The biggest worry of the day is trying to figure out if it's high tide or low tide. That's my kind of vacation :)

MY highlight was watching both boys boogie board and remember how it wasn't so long ago (1 year for A and 1 month for C) that they were both afraid to put their faces in the water. They grow up so, so fast!

Here are a few of the other highlights:

Playing in the sand!

Bike rides/Scooter rides!

Tennis

Running in the sand with our cousins

A surprise dinner!

A double birthday party

Putt Putt Golf- A and C both got a hole-in-one.

But the biggest highlight is always family. Oh, how we love our family. 

(p.s. I'm praying there are at least two more faces in that picture next summer!!!)

More Harvest

Jenny Lind Melon

Tigger Melon

Orangeglo Melon

A sink full of basil makes a lot of pesto! Yum!

Ground Cherries